In April 2003, Lumina Foundation for Education published a comprehensive inventory of state-level student unit record (SUR) capacity--an inventory conducted in 2002 by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and titled "Following the Mobile Student: Can We Develop the Capacity for a Comprehensive Database to Assess Student Progression?" (Ewell, Schild and Paulson, 2003) [ED475730]. The primary intent of this effort was to examine the feasibility of linking student data from multiple states to track students on a national basis. This report presents the results of NCHEMS' new 50-state inventory of state SUR capacity. In addition to revisiting the topics covered in the 2002 survey (data-element coverage and analytical capability), the current inventory more closely examines how states link SUR data with other data sources and how they use the resulting information. It also examines some of the cross-cutting issues that states face in this arena. The report is divided into six sections. The first section describes the methodology used by NCHEMS to conduct the 50-state survey and analyze its results. The second presents results on the overall status of state- and system-level SUR systems on a number of dimensions, including the proportion of states that have such databases and their overall capabilities. The third takes these findings to a finer level of detail by examining the specific data elements contained in these systems and the extent of cross-system commonality. It also examines the capacity of states to generate a "common core" of data elements suitable for consistent tracking. The fourth section examines the most common applications of state SUR data through regular reporting. The fifth section presents cross-cutting challenges and issues. The report's final section provides some recommendations for moving forward. (Contains 5 tables and 12 endnotes.)

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